


Still Here

by cerisemoon



Series: Stars Can't Shine Bright Enough [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dissociation, Ghosts, Minor Character Death, Tags and Characters to be added, ahh i should add the proper tags now, but not really, children that dont deserve This having to deal with This, im keeping y'all in the dark here, im really gay for stella, this whole fic is self gratification
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-09 12:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cerisemoon/pseuds/cerisemoon
Summary: Tenebrae is Stella's home, and her life. She loves her family, and her country, and knows just how she wants her life to go. However, when the attack on Tenebrae forces her into a new state of being, she's forced to abandon the peaceful, studious life she once led, and put into practice everything she's learned, alone.





	1. Ashes to Ashes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SayNevermore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SayNevermore/gifts).



> um i really liked stella and im still very angry she's gone  
> i read somewhere that part of Versus XIII was that Stella was actually invisible? Maybe not invisible, but only Noct could see her or something along those lines and i thought that was super sad? also her and noct can both see ghosts or something and i dont have a source for either of those but i remember them so im using them

It had been such a lovely day.

It wasn't particularly sunny, but it wasn't particularly cloudy either, and the temperature was just right. It was a lovely warmth, and the breeze hadn't been too chilling.

Stella's smiling mother stood a few feet away from her, and her hand was in Ravus'. He'd tried to fold them behind his back, where she knew he'd fiddle, and pick at the hems of his jacket sleeve, so she'd tugged it free. Luna danced happily around the visiting Prince Noctis' wheelchair, his father happily watching on from behind them. A few other members of the Lucian envoy, and some of the manor's staff were also gathered in the meadow, here to celebrate the Prince's healing.

Stella had been in the library a few days ago, and had herself seen the extent of his recovery. Luna had stepped away for a moment, to grab a book, and Noctis had stood, shakily, and made his way over to her to peer over her shoulder. The cheer Luna had given out made her look up from the book she was reading (about the different sword fighting techniques) and give the young Prince a cheer of her own. The apprehensive grin on his face had been moving, she thought. He was all of eight, and had already suffered great hardships. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like.

She wasn't empathetic, like Luna was, but she could understand how something was saddening. She'd prepared herself for tragedies though. She knew that when she was older, she was going to help Lucis fight Niflheim, while Ravus ruled Tenebrae and Luna healed the citizens of Eos infected with Starscourge. She'd read all about it, in books, and she knew war saw many casualties. She couldn't allow herself to feel too sad over such losses, she told herself, because it would slow her down, and then she'd be of no use to her family.

That wasn't going to happen. Stella wouldn't let it.

The sound of Pryna's barking drew her out of her thoughts, and she gazed over to where the white dog was stood at Lady Gentiana's heel. She'd been sleeping a minute ago, now she was up on her hind legs, jumping up and barking at the sky. Ravus tutted when Pryna ignored Lady Gentiana's attempts to hush her, and Stella let loose his hand to go over, lest the barking upset the Prince. He'd taken rather well to Umbra, but he still flinched at loud noises.

The sky seemed to darken as she made her way over to the pair, and a quiet murmur filled the air as an odd chill ran up her spine. Pryna's yowling grew only louder, calling the attention of the adults around them, and Stella saw Gentiana's face pale as she looked up. She looked afraid. She'd never seen such an expression on the Lady's face. Following the woman's eyes, she saw the cause of the sudden shadow; Several imperial ships floated above the meadow- She recognised them from her studies. Dread filled her in that instant as she let her eyes drop for just a moment. Luna stopped dancing. Her mother and the Prince stopped smiling. Ravus' hands fell from behind his back, to his hilted weapon. Crystal shards filled the air and time seemed to slow for all of a second.

Then the soldiers fell from the sky, and the screaming began.

The Tenebrae guard fell in the time it took Lady Gentiana to cover Stella's eyes, and begin pulling her away. She struggled against the older woman's grip, and managed to free herself. The Lady shouted her name, but she spurred onwards. She had to get to her family. Swords of glass flew through the air, and she saw King Regis sprinting towards Luna and Noctis, and before she could join them, she heard Ravus cry out. Whipping her head around, she pulled her hair out of her eyes just fast enough to see her brother fall to the ground, clutching his upper arm. A Magitek soldier stood not five feet away, and her scream seemed overshadowed by that of her mother as Sylva flung herself before him.

Fire took her mother.

Her throat was ripped apart by the screams that tore from it, and as ash fell from the sky, it mingled with her tears, tracks of gray lining her face. Imperial and Magitek soldiers stormed the land, trampling flowers and killing any who attacked them. The Lucian Envoy either fell or fled, and Stella could see no more of her own country's guards. Crystal shards no longer filled the air, now flakes of ash and embers settled instead. She could only hope Luna had been whisked away along with the Prince, and she crawled towards Ravus' fallen form. Blood splattered against his face; There was a sword buried in their mother's chest, and she felt her stomach lurch. Her muddied hands dirtied his shoulders as she grasped them, shaking her elder brother to no avail. His eyes were fixed to the body of their mother in front of them.

She took his rapier in hand, and her eyes darted around, desperate, desperate to find anybody to help, and found only enemies approaching. Somewhere, a dog howled, and she stood before Ravus, rapier held afront. Her legs shook, but she held steady, and charged.

Stella's burst of movement surprised the first two soldiers she took down (could you surprise a machine? She wasn't sure what MTs were made of, but they weren't human.), as she plunged the rapier into the heart of the first one she came across, and hauled it around into the one beside it, both of them crashing to the ground. Fires raged around her, and she watched the flames suffocate the beautiful flora around her.

As she fought, fire took her home.

An Imperial Soldier came at her, and the rapier was pulled out of the MT, straight into the man's chest. A cacophony of noise echoed around her; The soldier's cries, the groaning of falling trees, gunfire, and the incessant howling of the dogs. Gunfire. She heard it before she felt it, a burst of pain in her shoulder, then one in her thigh, and she fell. Dogs, again, louder and louder, until she wanted to scream at them to quiet. Why had they not fled with Lady Gentiana?

Somewhere behind her, Ravus cried out for aid, and she struggled to keep her eyes open. Heavy footfalls came her way, and then froze. Everything froze. Stella shuddered, and the blast of cold air prompted her to lift her heavy eyes. The soldiers were unmoving, frost patterns forming on their armour. A bark at her side, and Umbra's dark fur came into view. A hand at her nape, trailing down until she felt the liquid running down her back smudge and slow. It was cold now, terribly cold, and she thought she must be dying, she failed her family, and she'd die, and would Luna be alright? Would Ravus? She couldn't die, she had to make sure they were safe.

Her ears rang, and she heard nothing but her own laboured breath as she choked on smoke. Then, a whisper, and the press of soft lips at her forehead.

_"I am so deeply sorry. Rest now, child."_

And she closed her eyes, and fire took her life.


	2. Hello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stella wakes up, in an empty world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aside from the last chapter all of the chapter titles are gonna b from songs in my stella playlist (which, feel free to ask for)
> 
> so anyway i didn't write any dialouge last chapter and that killed me bc dialogue is my strong point so catch me writing loads more once this gets into the swing of things
> 
> okay so i talk a LOT about things that happen in the past, and ill probably keep doing it until stella gets older, because it helps establish stellas character more (for me at least) by showing how past events have shaped her personality

Cold.

Dark.

Heavy.

Stella felt herself shudder, and- wait, shudder?

Her eyes shot open, though the light made her squint instantly. Her body ached. Her throat was hoarse, and dry, thick air catching in it as she desperately gasped for breath. She could breathe! Gods, it hurt but she could breathe! A small smile settled on her dirtied face, as she reveled in her discovery. She wasn't dead. She'd lived. She'd lived! Her shoulder and leg still hurt, but the pain had faded, a dull background ache. Like the time she'd broken her arm when she was 12, and had tripped down the manor stairs while running. Ravus had promised to begin teaching her how to fight with a sword, without Sylva's knowledge. It wasn't that their mother would've been against it, but Stella didn't want a proper tutor, who'd make her go through all the boring stuff about poise she'd learnt since she was a child. (Ravus was just as bad as the tutor, in reality, not much softer on her than his tutor was on him.)

Thoughts of Ravus urged her blue eyes to open, and the smile fell from her face. It was all in ruins. The meadow around was an ashen shell of what it had been before. Patches of blackened grass, charred bark on trees, and heavy footprints filling with mud. The sky too, was overcast and gray, stray dead leaves and petals floating around in the breeze. Gods, and there were even bodies lain about. Her stomach lept and she rolled over, retching. Her mother's royal blue cloak lay ahead of her, muddied and trampled on, but the body was gone. Had the Niffs taken her mother? Was Ravus alive? Had Luna escaped? Where had Lady Gentiana gone? And Umbra? Hadn't they been with her? One last glance, and nobody was around. There wasn't a single living thing in the meadow.

Her head swam with all the questions dancing around, and she felt bile rise in her throat. Swallowing it down with a grimace, she crawled towards her mother's cloak, clothes already filthy, and clasped it to her. A knot formed in her throat, and choked sobs racked her chest as what she'd lost truly hit her. Hadn't she prepared for this? For loss? Hadn't she told herself she wouldn't be upset by it, because it'd slow her down? And here she was, clutching her mother's cloak and weeping, like a child with a comfort blanket.

Gods, but it was a wonder the Niffs hadn't heard her screaming. Stella wasn't sure how long she sat there, bawling and shaking, but when her eyes opened, dried tears in their corners, she could see a low sun peeking through the clouds. Evening or dawn, she wasn't certain. Her breath was shaky, but stable, and she rubbed at her eyes, wiping the dusty tear tracks away. The Nox Fleuret Manor stood in the distance, undamaged as far as she could tell, but there were Imperial Ships anchored around it.

She had to get in. She had to find Ravus. Chewing her lip, she drew the dark cloak around her shoulders. It was heavier than she'd expected, but she hoped it would warm her back. It was cold, much colder than Tenebrae usually was this time of year. The bottom of the cloak trailed in the mud behind her as she stood, and took a few apprehensive steps. Her left leg wasn't as strong, from the bullet, she supposed, and she extended it to check the damage. Her brow furrowed upon seeing it.

The wound itself seemed to have scarred over already, a pale purple blemish on her thigh, raised by collagen, she found, when she ran her fingers over it. The confounding thing though, was the intricate pattern of silver lines that danced around it. No bullet could've done that, she was certain. Her head tilted as she examined it, and the marks were cool to the touch. They almost looked like frost patterns, in a certain way. Did her shoulder have the same such patterns? She'd have to find a reflective surface soon.

"Odd..." She murmured, putting a hand to her neck when the speech strained it. She swallowed, and cleared her throat. "Right."

Fenestala Manor. There was nothing the imperials would really need there, she didn't think, now that the oracle was...had passed. If Luna had indeed escaped with King Regis, she'd be safe and out of reach. She wouldn't take the mantle of Oracle until she was older than Stella currently, and who knew where the war would go by that time. Ravus though, Ravus was allowed to sit in on important meetings, and he had most certainly been alive when she...blacked out? She shook her head. She had to find Ravus.

A brief thought fluttered through her mind, of what she'd do if he wasn't in the manor. Stella knew she'd want to go find him if he were in Niflheim, but would she be able to?

"I have to." She croaked out, hiking the cloak up, and began the trek to the manor. She could steal inside the manor; She knew it inside out. Her and Luna used to go exploring inside, before Stella had started her longer lessons, and she frequently snuck out at night to visit the field of sylleblossoms nearby. She liked to sit under the stars, surrounded by the smell of the flowers. Sometimes, Ravus would come fetch her, and she'd convince him to sit with her, at least for a little while. He'd complain about it the next morning, but he'd still do it.

This time though, she'd fetch him.

Stella walked for an hour, and had circled the manor before she actually came close to any soldier, human or otherwise, and she ducked behind a bush when she did. There had been guards around, very heavy security, but Stella hadn't needed any of those routes. Two imperial soldiers, chatted quietly about something she couldn't quite make out, in front of a small side gate that led into the manor. The door opened into a small storage room, that used to be a maid's room, and it was the one Stella always used to sneak out.

Peeking through the leaves, she could see they were both armed, some type of Niff rifle. Stella couldn't fight her way in, Ravus' rapier had been gone when she'd woken up, and she wasn't sure she could incapacitate two men with just her strength. She'd practice more hand-to-hand when this was over, she decided.

They patrolled back and forth across the gate, and she pressed her back further into the shrub. Rocks and pieces of brick lay scattered at her feet. Biting her lip in thought, she rolled her shoulder back, and winced. No good. She'd thought about trying to scale the building, but if her shoulder ached this much, she doubted she'd make it up the wall. Carefully, she lent over, lifting a few rocks into her lap. Weighing them out in her hands, she picked the two heaviest, and set the others down.

The gravel beneath her feet was unstable, and her breath hitched everytime she heard it crunch. With her good arm, she hoisted the rock against her shoulder, and tossed it as hard as she could. A few seconds later she heard it land with a distant thud, rustling the trees and shrubs around it. She couldn't see where it had landed, but one of the soldiers shouted at the other, and they both turned to that direction.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

"They're not gonna come out just because you asked them, dumbass."

"Shut up." Snapped the first man. Stella covered her mouth as she snickered. "Come out here with your hands up!"

"It was probably a bird or something." No, come on! Stella frowned when the soldiers didn't follow the sound, and lifted the second rock. She'd wanted to keep it in case she needed a weapon. She threw it just before the soldier stood to attention once more.

"HEY!" The first one smacked the second one's chest. "I fucking heard somebody again, I'm serious."

"Then go check it out."

"Not alone, what if they're armed?"

"You have a gun. I have to stay here in case they try and break in."

"They won't break in if we go over there and get them!"

"Fine, fine, whatever. If it's an animal I'm gonna kick your ass."

Stella let out the breath she'd been holding when the two soldiers walked away. She waited until their backs had just about vanished into the thicket, and dashed for the door.  
It was unlocked, miraculously, and she shot inside, shutting it behind her. Her breathing was fast and heavy, but she smiled. She'd made it in. Looking around her, the room seemed mostly as she remebered it, shelves and boxes all in the same places. Quietly, she rifled through the boxes, and found an iron poker in one.

It was heavier than the lighter swords and rapiers she usually used, not as evenly distributed, and shorter. She tutted. Sighed. "It'll have to do."

Stella put her ear to the door leading outside, and was met with silence. Made sense, it wasn't a frequently used wing of the manor, but she opened the door slowly nonetheless. It had a tendency to squeak if she opened it too fast, and she didn't want the echo to call attention to her being there. Poking her head out, she looked both ways, and found nobody. Good.

She hadn't snuck out very recently, she'd been busy studying, or spending time with the Prince when Luna and King Regis couldn't, but she was certain she could still find her way up to the bedrooms. Her room was next to Ravus' and opposite Luna's, and their mother was next to Luna. It hadn't been, at first, before Luna had been born. It'd been in another wing, a few corridors away, but Stella's father had died before Luna's birth, and so unless Stella embraced the role of Oracle, something she wanted to avoid, it was assumed Luna would take the mantle. So, Sylva moved into the room beside Luna's nursery room after she'd been born, to care for her, and to guide her more intimatley into the role she'd take. That, and the fact that Ravus had horrible night terrors. Their father had always taken care of it, calming Ravus down, and hushing young Stella back to sleep, because Ravus' cries had woken her up. Their father wasn't there anymore though, and if Ravus woke up Stella, he'd wake up baby Luna, and Maria tried her best, but it was never enough to soothe him.

Sometimes, Ravus still had those dreams, though at sixteen they were much less frequent. It was probably why he accompanied Stella on her midnight walks. She hoped they'd still be able to have those walks, despite everything.

Voices approaching dragged her out of her thoughts, and back into the present, at an apt time too. Just as she looked up, shaking the memories out of her head, four soldiers, in formation came marching down the hall. A second-long glance around her and she could tell her feet had instinctively taken her very close to the bedroom suites, just a staircase and a few corrdiors, if she placed herself correctly. However, the soldiers were fast approaching, and she thanked the Hexatheon that they hadn't already seen her. She couldn't fight four, with a poker. Two, absolutely, three maybe, but not this many. There were no doors around, no rooms she could duck into, and she could feel sweat beading on her brow.

If they caught her, would they bring her into custody? To Ravus? Or would they shoot her? Her teeth clamped down on her lip, and she threw herself against the wall, crouching behind a small pillar with a vase atop it. A knot formed in her stomach, and the vase began to wobble. She clapped a hand to her mouth, cursing herself thrice for knocking the pillar. It shook, and shook, and fell, and the soldiers all looked her way.

Panic shot through her, and she contemplated running. No, they might shoot her in their suprise. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes at the thought, she'd already come to close to death, not again, not again. One soldier walked over to her hiding spot, and crouched right in front of her.

"What the f..." He looked right at her.

Then he looked at the pillar, then the vase, then her again. He shrugged. He was looking right at her, and he shrugged!

"A draft?" Called one of the others, curiously approaching the crouched man.

"Maybe. Bet one of those asses on perimeter skipped and left the door open." Crouching man shook his head, and stood back up. They all turned away, and carried on working.  
Stella dropped her hand, a loud choked sob escaping her mouth. They must have seen her, they must have. They couldn't be covering for her, they were imperials, and all four of them looked confused. If by some miracle, they hadn't seen her, they must have heard her cries, because she had no strength to hold them back, not now. And yet, none turned around. None even glanced.

She sat there, cloak wrapped around her, shaking, until her heart settled, and she decided that when she fought Niflheim properly, she'd avoid any espionage mission like the Scourge. Gods, but it was such a sickening feeling. She much preferred the face to face fighting, not the spying or firearms that the Niffs preferred. Guns were a cowards weapon, she'd once read, used by men too yellow to face their opponent fairly.

Clearing her head, and her throat, she muttered a quiet prayer to the Six. (Or should it be Five, after Ifrit's betrayal? She'd look into that sometime.) She hurried up the stairs, wincing whenever her leg pulled, and faithfully tore down the two Niflheim flags she'd found hanging in halls she'd passed through. In her home. Filthy.  
No encounters until the bedroom suite had her relax slightly, until she saw the guard that stood. Her mother's door was ajar, as was hers, being searched she assumed, as she could hear faint voices echo down the hall. Outside Ravus' room though, stood two MT abominations, and Luna's door was neither ajar nor guarded. Odd. Perhaps Luna had made it to Lucis. Her heart warmed at the thought.

Stella thought back to the fight in the meadow. She could take the two MTs with ease, even with the slightly rust poker. Hell, she could probably take them without it, but MTs weren't known to speak, which meant Imperial Soldiers in the rooms. She couldn't tell how many.  
Perhaps she could sneak into the room, when they were distracted? She leaned against the corner of the wall, and pulled her boots off. Her feet were quiet against the rug on the floor, and she apologised silently to her mother, before flinging them against the opposite wall. The thud made her own ears hurt slightly, but a peek around the corner showed the MTs still looking directly ahead. A thought.

"Hey!" A dangerous thought. Still, nothing. Ridiculous. Did the Empire build machines that couldn't hear? What fools, she thought, becoming increasingly frustrated. A far more dangerous thought came to mind, as she heard footsteps. Unconciously, she was almost entirely in view, in her vigil to keep watch, but still the MTs made no move. A man who looked like neither soldier nor machine approached Ravus' room, a tray in his hands.

Perhaps...

As the man drew closer to the door, she marched down the hall. If the MTs were dsyfunctional, everything would be fine, and she could take the weedy man down inside the room. The man in question had his back to her, and just as she reached the door, the MTs moved, stepped forwards, to let the man enter. It happened too fast, and Stella collided with the MT, both toppling to the ground. The man jumped back, and the second MT took aim. They both looked at her, again, with no reaction. Her grip on the poker grew stronger.

"Are you all blind?" She demanded, foolishly, her glare weakened by ever increasing panic. "I'm stood right before you!" The MT on the floor rose, and the man just looked around, before tutting at it. Faintly, she thought she heard Ravus' voice. She shoved the MT over, hard, and it fell again. People were leaving the rooms now, to see the ruckus caused, and yet nobody saw her.

"I'm right here!" She almost cried, why couldn't they see her?

A gut-wrenching thought struck her. Was she actually there? What if she hadn't made it? Stella had read plenty of ghost stories before, when she'd been younger and interested in such things. Six, was that what she was? No. No. She shook her head, and stood there, trembling, until order returned to those around her. "I'll run you all through." She whispered, ignoring the sharp pain in her lip.

The man told the Imperials to take away and replace the MT she'd knocked over, clearly defective, he'd said, and entered Ravus' room. She followed right behind him, anxiety gnawing at her. If they couldn't see her, could Ravus? Her stomach lurched, for what felt like the fifth time that day, but her shoulders dropped in relief to see Ravus alive and unharmed - disregarding the injuries she'd been present for.

He was pacing his room furiously, hair mussed and a bandage around his arm. Not a proper one, by a doctor, this was made of torn fabric, and tied terribly. He'd probably done it himself, she observed, angrily. Ravus didn't turn to adknowledge the man, just scowled even further. The man set the tray down on Ravus' desk, and she saw now it had food and some bare medical supplies.

At least they wouldn't starve him, she thought, face grim. The man opened his mouth to speak, but clearly thought better of it when he saw Ravus' expression, and left the room hastily. Ravus paced some more, and sat down for a moment, then began pacing again. Stella took a step forwards.

 

_"Ravus?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this doesnt flow too well imo?  
> and stella is out of sorts but she's fourteen and her life just got fucked so i mean? shes not thinking right,,, otherwise (my interpretation of) stella wouldnt have gone and yelled @ them  
> i put a cliffhanger because i wrote loads for this and i didnt want the chapter to be too long, but that at least means ch3 is already half written!  
> yay!

**Author's Note:**

> >:3
> 
> i got in a huge stella mood and tumblr only amplified it so here i am writing a fix it fic even though i have like five other WIPS to do
> 
> (help me)


End file.
